You Left Me
by Of.Winged.Poets
Summary: What happens when Fang leaves again? How will Max and Fang cope? Will they ever be together again? Faxness. Set after book 3. RECENTLY EDITED FOR ERRORS.
1. Chapter 1

This is my first MR FanFiction. Enjoy!

Not James Patterson.

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FPOV

I set the letter next to Max. The moonlight spilt across her face. She was so beautiful. I felt like the lowest scum. Hadn't I promised her? I forced myself to leave, to turn my back on her.

"Ready?" I asked Angel. She had picked up on my intentions and asked to come along. I said no, it would break Max's heart, but she insisted. Gazzy was with her. He didn't want to leave his sister. Angel said that Iggy and Nudge would have chosen to stay if I had asked. It was there in their minds, she said. She was one scary child sometimes. Right now though, right now, she was just a little girl. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," she said, but her eyes were sad. She slipped in to Max's room and kissed her cheek. I heard her whisper, "Goodbye, Max." There were tears on her cheek when she came out. I looked at Gazzy. He went into Max's room. I saw a single tear fall from his eye as he looked at Max. He leaned down and hugged Max gently. I saw her stir.

"What's the matter, Gaz?" she murmured.

"Nothing, Max." His voice was choked with tears. Max sat up.

"Tell me."

"Just a bad dream," he lied.

"Do you want to stay with me?"

"No. I'll be okay." She hugged him tight, and stroked his hair. What I wouldn't give to spend a moment in her arms before I left. She wouldn't forgive me for this. I couldn't believe I was actually doing this. I was leaving Max. Right when everything seemed okay. She would be safe, fine. She would grow up and spend her life in someone else's arms. It was a different kind of pain. I was used to physical pain. This was so much worse. I felt something break inside of me, that something that Max kept whole. I needed to go before I lost my nerve.

I turned. Angel and Gazzy were right behind me. I spread my wings, forcing myself not to take that one look back at her. We flew into the night sky. The tree where Max was became lost in the large forest. I felt teas prickle my eyes. I fought them back. I had to be strong, like Max.

Max. Her name became a sharp pain inside of me. I could see her face so clearly when I closed my eyes. No one got me like her. She was the only one, the only one who made me feel whole. I was doing this for her. That's what I told myself. She would be safe. All I had to do was destroy the rest of Itex's little projects and then I could go back to Max. The problem was: I didn't know how long it would take. Angel understood this. I'm not sure if Gazzy did though.

We didn't speak as we flew. We saw the sun come up in silence. I couldn't help but wonder what was happening back in that forest. Had Max found my letter yet? Was she angry? Sad?

MPOV

I woke up early. Something didn't feel right. I looked around. Where was Fang? Where was Angel? Gazzy? My breathing sped up. I got up, searching. Something fell out of the tree. A piece of paper. I jumped down and looked at it. It was a folded piece of paper, torn at the edge. "Max" was written on it. I opened it:

_Max-_

_This is the best way. I have to leave. Angel and Gazzy are coming with me. I wish there was another way, but there's not. You and the rest of the Flock deserve to live a normal life. I'll take care of the rest. I'm sorry._

_-Fang_

I realized that I was crying. My fingers ran over the letter of their own accord. Fang was gone. Fang was gone. The words ran through my head like a mantra.

"Iggy!" I cried, perhaps a bit louder than was necessary because he fell out of the tree. "Sorry," I muttered.

"What's wrong?" he asked. I read him the note. "That can't be real."

"It is."

"How do you know?"

"Because no one but Fang could have been quiet enough to put this practically on top of me without waking me, except for the rest of you guys." Iggy looked horrified.

"Why did Angel and Gazzy go with him?"

"I don't know." It hurt. Angel, my sweet baby, had chosen Fang over me. Fang had broken his promise. I couldn't believe the amount of pain that was washing over me.

"What's going on? Where is everybody?" Nudge had woken up.

"Fang, Angel, and Gazzy decided to go their own way," I said. My voice was hollow, empty, completely devoid of emotion.

"Max? Are you okay?"

"I'll be okay, Nudge. Let's just stay here today." _In case they come back._ Even though I knew that it would be hard for them to find us, nearly impossible. Iggy nodded. "I-I'm going to go for a fly. 'Kay Ig?"

"Alright." But I had already taken off. I couldn't see them. They must be long gone. If Fang wanted to leave, I wasn't going to follow. But it hurt so much. The tears were back. I flew aimlessly, trying to outrun my own pain. I eventually turned around. I came back to find Iggy gently comforting Nudge. My poor broken Flock. I joined them and we tried desperately to stay in one piece. It was nearly impossible because half of us were gone.

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So yeah. My first MR FanFiction, like I said. Review, please!

**Update: This story has undergone editing. I tried to get rid of the errors. I also now have other MR fictions that you should check out. **

**Also, the song contest has been removed from this story because it closed so long ago. The contest was to figure out which two songs this story is based off of. The songs are A Different Kind of Pain by Cold and Only One by Yellowcard. Obviously, the names of the songs and bands are still included in this story, but the contest is over.**


	2. Chapter 2

I'm super excited about this story so I'm posting Chapter two. Thanks for the reviews.

I don't own MR

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MPOV

_U&A, Max_. Ugh. Why did we always have to get up so early?

_What do you want?_

_Time to go. The world still needs saving._

_I think Fang's got that covered._

_It's not his job, Max._

_He thinks it is._ I was acting like a petulant child.

_Maximum. Get up. Head to Alaska. There's a big Itex factory there._

_Trying to get me to kill more innocent people?_

_No. That was a mistake._

_Whatever._

_You can't run from your destiny, Max._

_Wanna bet? _But I got up anyway.

"Come on Iggy, Nudge."

"Ungghh…"

"Why...."

"It's not that early," I lied. Two sleepy bird kids sat up and rubbed their eyes sleepily. "Sorry guys. Voice's orders."

"Here we go again," Iggy grumbled. I smiled at them, but I'm sure it came off as fake. It was. There really wasn't anything to smile about.

"Where're we going?" Nudge mumbled. Iggy pulled her down from the tree branch and helped her pack her stuff.

"Alaska."

"'s cold." She combed at her nest of hair.

"Yup." We ate more power bars. I was getting really sick of them. The sky was barely lit up when we started to fly. I wished Fang was here. I always knew that he would be strong. I counted on him more than I wanted to admit. It wasn't that Iggy couldn't be strong. It was just that Fang was such a part of me. _Whoa, shake out of it, Max,_ I told myself. Where was the invincible Maximum Ride? I had to be strong for Nudge and Iggy. They needed me.

I spent most of the flight trying not to think about what Fang, Angel, and Gazzy were doing, if they were okay. The rest of it I spent thinking about my empty stomach.

"Alright, guys. I think we should stop for some food."

"Great! I'm so hungry, you have no idea. But Iggy told me not to bother you with that stuff right now-" He flew over and slapped a hand over her mouth. I just shook my head.

We stopped at the first town that we spotted. It was small and rustic. We went into a little diner and ordered a mountain of food. The lady who took our orders didn't bat an eye. I respected that. When we were done gorging ourselves, we took off again. Alaska was getting closer and closer by the minute. Somehow, I just couldn't see the joy in that.

FPOV

"One down, a bunch to go," Gazzy said. I glanced back at the small explosion he had created. There hadn't been any of our fellow mutants in there. I was grateful for that. It would have made things so much more complicated.

I wondered where Max was. Had they found a place to settle down? I liked to think of her happy, living a normal life. It was hard to picture though.

"Let's stop for today, guys." We found a sheltered place in between some rocks. Of course we were in the desert.

"Gazzy wants to play soccer," Angel said.

"There are only three of us."

"Humor him. He's been so sad lately. I'll be referee." I shrugged. We started using a fairly round rock for a ball, but discovered that it hurt too much. Angel lent us a wad of clothes. I kicked the ball around, trying to let Gazzy win. I could see shadows under his eyes. _He's been having nightmares,_ Angel told me. I sighed. It was hard being Max. Max, I missed her so much. She would know just how to handle Gazzy.

Randomly, Angel said, "Yellow card." I looked at her.

"I didn't foul him." She shrugged. She did it again a few minutes later.

"You lose."

"Good game, Gaz." He looked a little better.

"Yeah."

I burnt the beans that we had scavenged from town, but the kids ate them anyway. How was I supposed to do this? Maybe we should go back. No, Max would be long gone by now. We'd never find her. I glanced at my laptop, lying useless on the ground. I longed for an internet connection to blog. Then Max would know we were alright. Should have thought of that before. Should have thought of a lot of things. Like how much leaving Max would hurt, like how bad of an idea it was. Too late to turn back now.

I watched the sleeping figures of the kids. I remembered sitting up with Max. Just sitting, not talking. I remembered how the stars glittered in her eyes. She was so beautiful. I had broken my promise to her. I winced inwardly. There were a lot of things I had to fix. But I couldn't go back. I had to stop Itex once and for all so that the Flock would be safe, so that the world would be safe.

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So there you have it. Pretty much a lot of inner-angsting. Review!


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks for reviewing!

I don't own MR

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MPOV

We flew over white, pure white. There was no way to judge how far we had gone. I didn't know how Iggy stood it, not being able to see anything, ever. Nudge was unusually silent. It was worrisome. I kept a sharp eye on my two Flock members. I couldn't lose them too.

"Calm down, Max. We're not going to fall out of the air," Iggy said.

"Sure about that?" I muttered. We continued on. I was waiting for a sign of life. Maybe a big flashing sign that said "Itex: Bird kids stop here" would suddenly appear. Yeah right. Nothing was ever easy. When had I become such a whiner? Oh yeah, when Fang left. I wondered where Fang was. The Voice never gave me any updates, if it even knew.

"What's that?" Nudge cried, startling me from my reverie. I looked down. There was a dull grey building just sitting in the middle of the snow-desert. I raised an eyebrow at Iggy. Then remembered that that was how I communicated with Fang, Iggy couldn't see me.

"What do you think, Ig?"

"Let's set down and figure out what we're going to do." We settled behind a big snow dune a good distance from the building.

"Any ideas?"

"We have to get inside."

"Good job," I muttered sarcastically. He grunted in return. This was getting us nowhere. I have no idea how long we sat there trying to figure out how to get in, do whatever we were supposed to do, and get out without getting captured or killed. There were too few of us.

_A little help would be nice._ I needed the Voice to just answer for once. _What are we even supposed to do once we get in?_ The Voice wasn't answering. I sighed in exasperation.

Suddenly, Iggy whirled on the spot. I turned automatically. Flyboys. I began shouting orders to Nudge and Iggy. This was not what we needed. I whirled to stop one of them from grabbing my wing and delivered a kick into its lower back. It toppled to the ground. We fought. I was breathing hard. There were just too many.

"We have to get out of here!" I shouted to Iggy. He was half supporting Nudge who couldn't stand on her left leg. He nodded. "On three, ready…ONE!" We burst upward, past the stunned and confused Flyboys. We flew south, trying to put enough distance between us and them.

"How did they find us?" I asked when we had stopped on the outskirts of a small town.

"Maybe they were guarding that place," Nudge suggested. "Max, I'm hungry." Of course. Iggy was going to have to set her broken leg, and she was thinking about her stomach. I smiled and ruffled her hair.

"We'll go get something from town tomorrow." It was the best I could do. She couldn't walk on that leg, and I didn't want to leave them here yet. "So now how are we supposed to get in there?"

"We aren't really going back, are we?"

"We just need a better plan."

"Better than nothing, you mean?" He smirked. I rolled my eyes. It wasn't my fault that the Voice was so entirely useless.

_Now, Maximum. That's not very nice._

_Now you show up._

FPOV

We detoured into a cyber café. Angel got us some internet time with her mind voodoo. Gazzy happily started playing games. I couldn't see Angel's computer because it was angled away from mine. I started blogging. There was a lot to say. I found a couple leads to follow, places that might be locations of schools. I was hoping to see something from Max. I missed talking to her. I missed everything about her. There was an interesting message:

**Alaska'sHeart said…**

**Dear Fang,**

**I can't believe you left Max again! I think I saw you flying over the other day? Are you in Alaska by any chance? I'm a little worried though. Is the rest of the Flock okay? Someone seemed hurt. I barely got a glimpse though. I could be wrong.**

Since we hadn't been near Alaska, it had to be Max. Who was hurt? What was she doing there? My curiosity was sparked. I was also worried. If Nudge, Iggy, or Max were hurt, how bad was it? Maybe we should head to Alaska. There might be a school there. I knew instantly that I was just making excuses. I had to stick to the path that I had chosen, no matter how hard it was. I added a note to the end of my blog:

**Max, if you see this. Tell me you guys are alright.**

It was the best I could do. We left the café. This time headed west. I had gotten a few hints that seemed good. I wished I had Max to ask. But I didn't.

You might have noticed that I'm excluding Total. I find him pointless, sorry. By the way, I'm sorry for any typos or whatever. I try my best to get rid of them, but sometimes I miss stuff. Don't forget to read my other FanFiction. Please please please review! I want at least 5 before the next chapter.


	4. Chapter 4

So the contest is closed. The winner is **rosesandviolets3. **The runner up is **rootlessdream.** Don't forget to claim your prizes you two (a sneak peek at something coming up in either of my two FanFics). The songs were:

A Different Kind of Pain-Cold

_Before I let you go, give me just one more night to show you just how I feel.  
I lost all my control, if it takes my whole damn life I'll make this up to you.  
Kind of like the waves, that roll their whole life towards somewhere crashing on the shore  
That's blown in by the wind that carries the clouds to hide my wish on a fallen star_

A different kind of pain, is someone there to hold you  
is someone there to take you away from me.(x2)

I tried to let you go I wish I could turn back time and show you just how I feel  
I needed you to know, if it takes my whole damn life I'll make this up to you

Kind of like the waves, that roll their whole life towards somewhere crashing on the shore  
That's blown in by the wind, that carries the clouds to hide my wish on a fallen star

A different kind of pain, is someone there to hold you  
is someone there to take you away from me. (x2)

Before you let me go away  
Before you let me go away  
Before you let me go away  
Before you let me go

I needed you to know

A different kind of pain, is someone there to hold you  
is someone there to take you away from me

A different kind of pain, is someone there to hold you  
is someone there to take you away from me

A different kind of pain  
A different kind of pain  
It's a different kind of pain  
It's a different kind of pain  
Before you let me go  
It's a different kind of pain  
I need you to know  
It's a different kind of pain  
It's a different kind..

And:

Only One-Yellowcard

_Broken this fragile thing now  
And I can't, I can't pick up the pieces  
And I've thrown my words all around  
But I can't, I can't give you a reason_

I feel so broken up (so broken up)  
And I give up (I give up)  
I just want to tell you so you know

Here I go, scream my lungs out and try to get to you  
You are my only one  
I let go, but there's just no one that gets me like you  
You are my only, my only one

Made my mistakes, let you down  
And I can't, I can't hold on for too long  
Ran my whole life in the ground  
And I can't, I can't get up when you're gone

And something's breaking up (breaking up)  
I feel like giving up (like giving up)  
I won't walk out until you know

Here I go, scream my lungs out and try to get to you  
You are my only one  
I let go, but there's just no one that gets me like you  
You are my only my only one

Here I go so dishonestly  
Leave a note for you my only one  
And I know you can see right through me  
So let me go and you will find someone

Here I go, scream my lungs out and try to get to you  
You are my only one  
I let go, but there's just no one, no one like you  
You are my only, my only one  
My only one  
My only one  
My only one  
You are my only, my only one

Wow, that has to be the longest opening author note thing ever. So enjoy this next chapter. **Update: The contest is closed. Just want to reiterate that.**

I don't own MR

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MPOV

"I'm hungry!"

"Me too." I sighed. Nudge was finally able to go into town, but I had been stalling. I was worried about another sudden Flyboy appearance.

"Okay."

"Yes!"

"Thanks Max."

Half an hour later we were sitting happily in a diner, stuffing our faces. The waitress gave us slightly appalled looks when she saw us shoveling it in. It made me laugh. Soon, all three of us were laughing. It seemed a little off without the rest of the Flock to join in. I think they realized it too because they stopped laughing and reverted to mouth-stuffing. Or maybe they were just really hungry.

"Can we check into a motel today? Please, Max?" Nudge pestered me. I looked at her. Bad move, she was giving me bambi eyes.

"Fine," I agreed. At least the room might have a computer. I could check up on Fang.

We settled comfortably into a small room. Nudge raced towards the shower happily. I rolled my eyes. It hadn't been that long since we'd had running water. Had it? Iggy settled down on the couch and listened to the TV. I went in search of a computer. I found one in a little room off the lobby marked "Manager's Office". No one was in there so I went inside.

A few quick keystrokes and I was at Fang's blog. I breathed a sigh of relief. They were fine. They were destroying schools. I almost closed the window, but then I saw a little note at the end. So Fang wanted me to tell him we were okay? I was tempted to ignore it. It would serve him right, but I couldn't. So I wrote a little comment, pretending to be Nudge. That should do it.

"Hey! What're you doing in here?"

"It said 'office'." I pretended to be stupid.

"That doesn't mean it's your office kid."

"Sorry." I waltzed passed him. He looked very confused.

"Just don't do it again."

"Of course." I smiled serenely. Then, I went back to the room. Nudge had talked Iggy into combing her hair. I smiled. Things seemed almost normal.

I got a shower. When I got out, I wiped off the steamy mirror and dried my hair. What was that? I saw a flash of black on the back of my neck. I lifted my hair and moved closer. Oh my god. It was numbers. My expiration date. I stifled a scream. My breath came in fast gasps. I double over. This could not be happening. I looked again. Still there. I quickly got dressed and tried to compose myself.

When I finally came out of the bathroom, Nude was sound asleep on the couch, her head in Iggy's lap.

"Took you long enough," he said to me. I shrugged. I busied my hands pulling down the bed covers. I could feel little tremors in my body. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Yeah right. Tell me." Iggy was my second in command now. I had to tell him.

"Not here." He lifted Nudge gently and laid her in the bed. I smiled at the amount of tenderness he showed. We stepped into the hall.

"Tell me," he said again.

"You're starting to sound like Fang." He didn't smile. He knew something serious was up. "Fine." I guided his hand to the back of my neck. With his ability to distinguish colors, he would be able to tell.

"What is that?" He sounded worried. I turned to him.

"My….date." He sucked in a breath, his eyes going wide.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." We stood in silence for a moment.

"How long do you have?"

"A little under a week." His breath caught again. Then he hugged me. I didn't cry. If Fang were here, I probably would have, but for now I still had to be the strong leader. "It'll be okay," I said, more to reassure myself than him. "Iggy? When I...when it happens, you have to go to Fang okay? You have to get the Flock back together." He didn't argue. He just nodded solemnly. He went back inside. I doubled over again, dry sobs racked my body. _Fang, I wish you were here._

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Hope you like it. Please review! To my winners, don't forget to claim your prizes.


	5. Chapter 5

Hey guys, thanks for the reviews. I hope my winners enjoyed their previews. So here's the thing, Max can't go back to Fang. He left her. Plus, my story works better this way. Maybe there could be some Nudge and Iggy action in there. You never know. Do you guys want me to add more Niggy? Calm down people, there will be more Faxness. There's just some stuff they have to overcome first.

I don't own Maximum Ride

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FPOV

"How are we supposed to get in there?" I was staring at a huge fortress-like building, the latest ITEX School. "There's no way." It was heavily guarded. I could see Flyboys standing guard.

"We could just bomb it," The Gasman suggested.

"I don't think that's a good idea. There are kids in there. They're in cages." I nodded. We'd been through this before. The problem wasn't what to do it was how to do it.

"Can you just trick them into letting us in?"

"Ummm…I can feel the minds of the whitecoats and the kids, but I can't get to the Flyboys." Great, just great. They'd been updated. This was all we needed. I wished I had a Voice like Max. We spent hours studying the building, looking for weak points. Eventually, a couple of Flyboy guards left their posts, just walked off.

"This has to be a trick." There was no way for them to know we were here though.

"Let's go for it," Gazzy said. He was ready to fight. It seemed like a bad idea. I grabbed my laptop. There wasn't a connection here.

"Come on, guys. I have an idea."

"Cool!" Angel said, picking my thoughts out of my mind.

"What is it?"

"He's going to try and get the kids around here to help. Like he did before. They could distract everyone while we slip in and save the kids in there."

"Sounds good. Do I get to blow something up?" I shook my head.

We flew to a place where I could access the internet. I quickly began typing a call to anyone around here who would help. I was excited. This might actually work. I noticed a comment, from Nudge.

**Hey Fang! What's up? How's everyone? Max said to tell you we're all right. We're doing great. I got a little hurt, but Iggy fixed it. It feels great now. We miss you. You should come back.**

It sounded like Nudge, but something was off. No, I was just being paranoid. Max wouldn't ask me to come back, and Iggy wouldn't write so much. I didn't have time to worry about it. We flew back to our lookout. Gazzy flew up high.

"There's a big crowd gathering about a mile away!" he said excitedly. It was working.

It took a while, but eventually a huge mob of kids swarmed towards the building. It was like a repeat of before. They basically wreaked havoc.

"Now," I said. We swooped upward. The Flyboys were distracted by all the noise. Angel controlled a few whitecoats to get us safely through the halls. It was almost too easy. We came to a locked door. "Angel?" I raised an eyebrow. She went off and came back a few minutes later with a blank looking whitecoat. He unlocked the door and then walked off. Like I said, she can be one scary kid.

There were cages inside the small square room. They were stacked on top of each other like shipping crates. Kids were curled inside them, unmoving. They looked up when we came in. I couldn't spread my wings in this enclosed space so Gazzy did it. They knew we were friends.

Another whitecoat came walking in. I turned to knock him out, but Angel said it was okay. The man opened the cages. I noticed how the kids shrunk back from him in fear. What had they done to these children?

"Angel, go see if you can get files on these kids," I said. She nodded and hurried off. Gazzy and I set to work helping the kids out. None of them had anything obviously different about them accept the abnormal stillness.

"Fang!" Angel called. I ran out of the room. "Calm down. Nothing's wrong. Look what I found." There was a list of names on the computer. Obviously the kids. We went through the list. What had they been doing? There were long chemical names and scientific garbage.

"Print it out. We'll look at it later." I could hear people coming. I raced back to the room. We began taking the kids out, lifting one or two in our arms and flying them to safety. "Stay here," I ordered before I flew back to get more. They didn't seem to have any desire to leave. They just stood where I put them. "What are we going to do with them?" I asked Gazzy. He shrugged.

"Maybe we should call Jeb, or Max's mommy." It seemed like a good plan. A couple of long phone calls later, the kids were set with everything they'd need, courtesy of Jeb and the government. I was a little worried about accepting outside help. These kids could end up right back where they started, but it was the best option.

It took a while to move all the kids where they needed to be, and even longer to make them all feel comfortable with the situation.

"There's something weird about them," Angel said, later. We were sleeping in a cave, having chosen to get away from all the people while we still could. "It's like their brains are different."

"What do you mean?"

"Hmmm…like when I hear your rain, there's real thoughts, emotions, pictures." I nodded. "Their brains are like nothing. It's like their robots or animals. They only have instinct in there, maybe a little fear."

"So they were breeding robot kids?"

"I don't know." We had given the files to the people who were taking care of the kids so I didn't have the option of looking them over.

"Tomorrow we're going to bomb that place," I said.

"Yay!" came Gazzy's sleepy reply.

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What comes next? Will Max die? Will Fang ever see her alive again? Review to find out.


	6. Chapter 6

Thanks for the reviews! I love reviews.

Not James Patterson.

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MPOV

_Time to go,_ the Voice said. I wanted to protest, to say it was pointless. But it wasn't. Just because I only had 24 hours to live, didn't mean that I shouldn't try to save the world. It had been five days since I'd seen the number. I had one day left. One day. I tried not to think about it. Nudge didn't know. I didn't need her to worry.

_Where am I going?_

_Back to Alaska._ Of course. I woke up Iggy and Nudge. Iggy was curled around her protectively. There was definitely something going on there. We ate breakfast in silence. It was a long way to Alaska. We had moved around a lot in the last few days, trying to outrun the truth. We flew in silence. It was hard to look Iggy in the face, knowing that I had asked him to lie to Nudge for me. I knew she sensed something was up because she was silent too.

We reached the huge expanse of ice and snow in record time, six hours.

"Okay, Ig." He dropped a bomb on the crowd of Flyboys. We landed on the soft snow. There would be more inside, but we were could handle it. I spent five of my precious 24 hours planning with Iggy and Nudge. The next four we spent beating off a new swarm of Flyboys. We had been prepared though, and we were able to fight them off. The next three hours were allotted to fighting their last outside defense, Erasers. I only had six hours left.

It was time to move. Apparently, we were getting school locations from inside and then destroying this place. There weren't any experiments inside, just whitecoats. Nudge walked up to the doors and put her hand to the keypad. A few minutes later there was a beep and the doors swung open.

"We're in," I said. Iggy smiled a Nudge appreciatively. I felt a bit better knowing that he would take care of her. Neither of them would be alone. We flew through the halls (not literally) taking out whitecoats as we went. They triggered an alarm.

"What do we do?" There were bells going off and traps being activated.

"Nudge, you go with Iggy to the control room and shut this down."  
"What will you do?"

"Fight them." I nodded at the pack of Flyboys that had just flooded through the door at the end of the hall. Iggy and Nudge raced off. I started fighting. It was surprisingly easy, or maybe I was just past caring about physical exhaustion.

The bells shut off. Iggy came back and helped me finish off the rest of the Flyboys in silence.

"Where's Nudge?" I panted.

"She's getting those files," he said. His eyes shown when he talked about her. How had I missed this? Had he always been in love with her? I didn't have time to ponder this though; Iggy had set a bomb. "Let's go." He tugged on my arm. We swooped past the control room and grabbed Nudge who had a small flash drive in her hand.

"Where'd you get that?"

"From in the desk. There were lots of them in a little box." She shrugged. I smiled at her.

"Good job." She beamed. We made it into the fresh air just as an explosion went off. A chain reaction went off.

"We did it. We beat them." Nudge said happily.

"Not quite." A voice said from behind me. I whirled. It was Omega. My heart dropped to my stomach. Great.

"Iggy, Nudge, go," I ordered.

"But Max…"

"Go!" They flew of a distance away. I lunged at Omega, wings out. He was shocked at my strength, I could tell. I was stronger than I had been before. We fought. It was like a sick dance, beautiful and deadly. He landed a few good shots. I landed more. We fought for a long time. It took hours. I was wasting my remaining time.

"You can't beat someone who has no tomorrow," I told him, and landed a hard kick to his neck. His eyes widened and there was a sickening crunch. He rumpled, grabbing my legs. We both went down. I felt something happing inside of me. How long had we been inside? Was it time? I punched Omega again. He looked at me, reached out to grab my throat, but his hand fell and he went still.

My breath was coming too fast; I could feel my heart slowing. I knelt on the ground. It was painful. I had not expected so much pain. My body was on fire. My heart hurt. I would never see Fang again. I needed to see him again before I died. What a time to realize I loved him. Iggy flew over.

"Are you hurt?"

"It's happening, Ig."

"Max!"

"Iggy," My breath was becoming painful; it took great effort to speak. "Iggy, you have to…have to tell Fang...that...that I…d-died in battle, that I got killed by Omega. It's sort of true…right? You have to let him have that hope…comfort. Don't tell him…about…about the real reason…'kay?" There were tears in his eyes.

"Okay, but Max. There has to be a way." He pulled me into a sitting position. I couldn't sit up alone.

"It's too…too late." I coughed; my heart was laboring to beat. "I don't want you to watch, Iggy….find Fang…take care…care of Nudge…Angel…Gazzy…Fang…" My voice faded out.

"Love you, Max." I couldn't respond. I wondered if the Voice would say goodbye. Iggy turned, grabbing Nudge's hand as he went. They took off. My vision was blurred, whether with tears or just from exhaustion I didn't know. I pictured Fang. I knew he'd take care of them. I closed my eyes. It was too much effort to keep them open. Then everything went dark.

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Is Max dead? Review to find out!

P.S. I opened a Fiction Press account under the same name, check it out.


	7. Chapter 7

Hmph none of you even are about Max! Well, maybe a few, which is why I'm updating, but I'm not telling you if she dies. Maybe I'll kill her just because you all don't even care. So anyway here's the next chapter.

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FPOV

There was a rustling coming from the trees branches below me. I knew it wasn't the kids; they were sound asleep right next to me. The Gasman was curled around Angel protectively. He was a good brother. They looked so peaceful in sleep. Max would have loved to see this.

The rustling sound came again. I slid off of the branch. My eyes adjusted to the new level of darkness, absent the moonlight that I had been bathed in before.

"Who's there?"I said. I was braced to fight. _Please don't let these be Flyboys_. I really didn't feel like fighting them at the moment.

"Fang?" That sounded like Nudge. Could it be? No, Max had too much pride for that. "Fang?!" A little body came flying at me. I almost fell over at the surprise hug.

"Nudge?" I gasped. It was actually her. "Iggy?!" My eyes had landed on Iggy over Nudge's head as I set her back on her feet.

"Yup." He didn't sound too happy.

"What's wrong?" I asked. "More importantly, where's Max?" I realized that I had just betrayed the depth of my emotions for her, but Iggy just shook his head. "What does that mean?"

"Oh, Fang…" Nudge cried. There were tears streaming down her face.

"What happened?!" I moved closer to Iggy, prepared to shake it out of him.

"She…she…there was a fight…Omega came…she wouldn't let us help…"

"What are you saying?" I felt incredibly slow. There was something very obvious that my brain refused to process. "Spit it out." Then he said the words that broke my world in two, tore out my heart, plunged my soul into darkness, and all of those other melodramatic things.

"She's dead." His voice broke. I stumbled back like he'd punched me.

"What kind of sick joke is this?!" It couldn't be true. I would have given anything for it not to be true.

"It's not a joke. Max is gone, Fang," Nudge's voice piped up. I heard twin cries of shock. Angel and Gazzy had woken up. There was loud talking, crying, so much pain. I didn't process any of it. Max was gone. I should have been with her. I could have saved her. I could have fought Omega with her. Max was gone. Max was gone.

The words sounded so strange; like a horror story told to scare you at night. Max couldn't possibly be dead. I had been so sure that I would know if something happened to her, that the world wouldn't feel the same without Maximum Ride in it. If only I had been there. I was such a fool. I should never have left her. And now she was gone. I would never see her face, watch her fly, hear her shout orders at me, laugh at her angry glare. My heart felt like it was imploding.

"What exactly happened, Iggy?" My tone was sharp. The words came out gravely with pain. Max, Max. Why did it have to be her?

"We were infiltrating an ITEX school. We got out, but he showed up. She told us to go." He pulled Nudge close to his side as if he needed comfort. "We could barely see. I saw them both go down. She killed him, but he took her along with him." I felt a sob rack my body. I had to suppress it. I was the leader now. The thought held no joy for me.

"You're in charge," I said, and took off. I flew for a long time, too long. I couldn't bring myself to stop and face the reality. In the air, I could pretend that Max was back with the Flock, alive. I had never felt so much pain. For so long, I had thought that the worst thing was cages. Being in a cage was nothing compared to this horror. I could have saved her. It was my fault that she was dead. I had broken my promise to her, and it had gotten her killed. There was no cure for the pain. _Max, Max. Why did you leave me?_ My heart cried out of its own accord.

The pain eventually brought me out of the sky. It was a weight on my wings. I felt like I'd never move again. My soul was gone. My reason for living was dead.

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Poor Fang. Will he have to live a Maxless existence? Your choice. Review!


	8. Chapter 8

You guys rock. Those reviews made me smile so much that I decided to post again just for you guys. You rule.

Not JP

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MPOV

I was in a white room. There was a small mirror framed in steel in the corner, mounted on the wall. I was lying on a steel table, like in a vet's office. I did a mental inventory, all functions were go.

"Hellooo?" I called.

"Max." _Ugh, Jeb._

"Ugh, Jeb."

"Now that's not very nice, Maximum."

"What the hell do you want?"

"We just saved your life, Max."

"So now what? Am I supposed to be eternally grateful? Let you keep me locked in this room forever?"

"A little civility would be nice."

"You didn't answer my question."

"I guess I didn't I?" I hated that superior tone.

"So tell me what happened," I said, trying to sound like I was interested and not searching for a possible escape route.

"You were dying. We barely got there in time."

"'We'?"

"Your mother and I."

"Mom's here?"

"Not anymore. She objected rather strenuously to keeping you under observation." Of course.

"Just let me go." My voice was a hostile whisper. It even scared me a bit. All I could think of was my Flock. Were they upset? Did they know I was alive? I could see Fang in my mind. Would he be happy I was alive? Would he come back to me?

"How long am I stuck here for?"

"That all depends on you, Maximum." As usual. They can never cut the bird-kid a break.

"What do you want me to do?" I was buying time. There were no clear escape routes. Maybe he'd give me something to work with. I had no intention of helping them, that was for sure.

"Nothing right now." I punched the table/bed angrily. Unsteadily, I made my way to the mirror. I saw the same old Max, maybe a little thinner, paler, more fragile looking, but still the same. I lifted my hair, no mark. I breathed a sigh of relief. Now, to get out of here.

"Jeb?" I called, sweetly.

"What is it, Maximum?"

"Do you think I could get some food? I'm hungry. How long have I been here anyway?"

"A few days." He didn't say anything about food. However, a few minutes later, a little tray was pushed through window in the door. I cursed. That wasn't going to get me out.

"Hey, Jeb!"

"What, Maximum?" He sounded annoyed. Good.

"So, like, why are you doing this? Haven't you bothered me enough?" I did my best to put all of the impertinent teen stored inside of me into those words. There was no reply. I chuckled to myself, wishing Fang was there.

"If you continue to be so hostile, we'll have to take drastic measures," a woman said.

"This isn't drastic?"

"Not yet."

"Oooh, I'm so scared." I couldn't seem to help myself.

"You're pushing it, Maximum," the woman said.

"Is that supposed to scare me? I killed your precious Omega. I'm not scared of you." There was silence. "Ohh, didn't tell them about that one, Jeb?"

"Shut up, Maximum." I rolled my eyes.

"Hmmmm…" I said, supposedly to myself. "Let's test these walls." I drove my fist into the wall. It left a big crack. I grinned evilly. This was fun. Almost dying had given me an energy high. I slammed my fist into the wall again. A hole appeared. I continued hacking at the wall until they noticed.

"Stop that right now!" the woman said. She sounded slightly hysterical. I kept going. There was a loud crashing coming from outside the door. Maybe this had been a bad idea. A couple of mutants came charging in. They didn't appear very coordinated. They crashed through the empty room, tripping and falling like there were things to fall on.

"This is the best you got?" I said a few minutes later when I had rid myself of the disruption. I looked around, pleased at my handiwork. One of the things had left a big hole in the wall. I could see blue sky outside. How stupid were these people? They'd put me in a room next to the outside? Did they think the high floor would bother me?

"You people are really stupid," I said and bolted. I flew out of the window. They'd even left my original clothes on, the incompetent fools. I glanced at my arm, another tracker. Could they have made it any more obvious? They wanted me to lead them to the Flock. Not a chance. I landed a few hours away and hacked at my wrist with a rock until it was pretty mangled. Then, I flew to a town.

"Help," I cried to an elderly looking doctor in the lobby of the small hospital in town.

"Oh, you poor dear! What happened?" She seemed nice enough, but I wasn't entirely comfortable with being in a hospital; too many whitecoats.

"I…I fell." I let a little sniffle come out. It was easy enough to fake tears. I had had a rough day. All I had to do was picture the letter from Fang and the tears welled up. Which reminded me: I dug in my pocket. My fingers brushed the paper; I still had it. They really had been stupid.

"Is there something in the wound?" the doctor asked.

"I think I got a piece of something in there."

"No worry, dear." She bustled around doing God knows what to my arm. She pulled out the chip.

"Oh!" I gasped.

"What's wrong?" she asked, distracted. I replaced the chip with a piece of rock.

"Nothing. That just hurt a bit."

"Poor baby. I can get you something for that."

"No, I'll be okay. Thank you." She smiled at me. I hopped off of the table cradling my bandaged arm.

"You be more careful," she said.

"Of course."

I took the chip outside and smashed it with a rock. Take that, Jeb. Yet, Jeb usually had more style. Maybe he'd been cheering for me? It didn't make sense. It also didn't matter. I had to find my family. I would see Fang again. I wondered whether to tell him I loved him. Would he be glad to see me? Would he leave again? So many questions.

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There I didn't kill her okay! I'm saddened that I only got a few death threats. I expected better of you. : ) Review if you want Fang and Max to be together again!


	9. Chapter 9

I know it's been a while, but oh well. Thanks for the reviews as always.

I don't own Maximum Ride.

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MPOV

I had been flying for forever. The endless sea of trees, cities, deserts, bled into one big mess of color. The constant flight and nonexistent food source wasn't doing anything for my arm.

It was night. There were tons of city lights below me like golden stars. My eyes were starting to drift closed. I felt myself drop lower. I cursed inwardly; it was time to stop. I flew for as long as I could, steadily getting lower, until I all but crashed in a dark forest. I wouldn't be able to sleep for very long; it was way too dangerous.

Curled up as comfortable as possible on a cold, damp branch, I drifted. As I floated in and out of consciousness, I dreamed:

_I was flying through thick fog, and through the fog I could hear a voice. It sounded so familiar. I flew faster toward it. I knew deep in my heart it was Fang. I landed on an invisible, fog covered piece of land. There was a shadow in the distance._

_"Fang?" I called warily._

_"Max?" a choked voice replied._

_I raced forward. It really was Fang. He didn't look like my dream Fang should; his eyes were hollow and haunted, there were dark rings under them, his face was thin and pale._

_"What happened to you?" we both asked at the same time._

_"Nothing," he responded. There was a warmth growing in his eyes. We were moving steadily closer like magnets."What about you?"_

_"Well, Jeb and Mom sort of saved me," I replied._

_"What?" he laughed disbelievingly._

_"Yea, I know. Actually, I don't really have a clue what happened. I woke up in some lab-type room and kicked some mutant butt. Then, I left."_

"_That easy?" We were so close now. His chest brushed against mine with every breath. I was finding it hard to form coherent thoughts, much less sentences._

"_Ummm…yea…ummm…There was a chip, but I got rid of it." I held up my bandaged arm. It looked worse than it was because there was blood on the bandages._

_"Max!"_

_"It doesn't hurt." I wasn't lying. The pain had vanished when Fang appeared._

_"Are you sure?" He pulled me close. I folded my wings to be closer to him. He buried his face in my hair. I drank in his scent. I loved him so much._

_"Yea….In fact…I feel…great…" My words were coming slowly, like I was drugged._

_"Max…" He didn't finish his thought. Instead, he pulled back to look into my eyes. I felt like I was drowning in his gaze. Did I see love there? Then my thoughts stopped as his lips lowered to mine. My heart beat frantically, my blood pumped. I felt my breath catch in my throat, and all those other romantic things._

"_Fang…" I breathed as his lips came away from mine, only to move over my face, my collar bone, my ears. His lips returned to mine. He slid his tongue into my mouth. A whole new flood of feelings swarmed through me. I kissed him back, desperately, wanting to crawl inside his skin and never let him go._

_His hands traced over my back, my wings. I let my own hands wander. I traced the hard lines of his abs. He was so gorgeous. I ran my hands up his chest and felt a shiver go through him. Finally, I buried my fingers in his hair and kissed him as passionately as I could. We were molded together, a perfect match._

_Then, the fog was fading. Fang was becoming transparent. I couldn't feel him anymore._

_"Fang!" I cried, but he was gone. _I was awake. It had just been a dream.

FPOV

"Max!" I bolted awake. Sobs racked my body. It was getting harder and harder to act strong for the Flock. We'd been flying aimlessly. It hardly seemed worth it anymore. The world had become monochromatic.

I remembered the dream. She had seemed so real. I had never had such a vivid dream before, yet there had been no surroundings, no setting. That was odd. I focused on remembering her voice, her face. Maximum Ride. The amazing Maximum Ride. How could she be gone? My guilt threatened to overwhelm me. It was all my fault.

"Fang?"

"What is it, Iggy?"

"I need to talk to you." I was puzzled, but I followed him a short distance from where we had been sleeping.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"You have to stop blaming yourself." It was the last thing I had expected. I was speechless. "It wasn't your fault."

"How can you say that? If I had been there…If I had just stayed…"

"You don't understand. There was nothing you could have done."

"Of course there was. I could have helped her fight Omega. He would never have got to her if I'd been there." I was almost gasping from the weight of the pain.

"You're wrong."

"Prove it."

"Omega didn't kill Max." He sounded guilty.

"What?" My voice was emotionless.

"She made me promise not to tell. But, Fang, I think you need to know."

"You're not making sense."

"Fang, a couple of days before Omega showed up…Max…Max found…"

"Found what?" I was almost shaking him. This was worse than trying to get him to tell me where Max was.

"She found her expiration date." He rushed through the words so that it took me a while to figure it out. It took even longer to accept.

"Why did she tell you not to tell me?" I whispered.

"She said something about 'wanting you to have hope'." Of course. Max had to take care of everyone. Oh Max. Why her? Why couldn't we ever be free of ITEX's influence? Why her? My heart was crying out at the injustice.

"Go back to camp, Ig."

"B-"

"Now." He went. I crumpled to the ground again. It was like losing her all over. My Max. She was gone. This was more believable than her losing to Omega. Max would never let anyone take her away from us. But an expiration date was out of her control. The believability only made it more real, made it worse.

Something was telling me to stay put. It wasn't Max's Voice. It was more like a gut feeling that it would be best to stay in this black forest for an extra night. The Flock must be exhausted. I was exhausted. My emotions were shattered. I felt physical pain inside of me.

We would stay here for one more night.

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So yea. There's the next chapter. I want more reviews. Pretty please. And how come no one ever updates? I was gone all weekend and no almost no one updated! It's very mean : ( Review! Please!!!


	10. Chapter 10

So I know it's been forever. I've been making Twilight fanfictions, many many Twilight fanfictions.

I don't own Maximum Ride.

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MPOV

I finally gave in. Yes, even the great Maximum Ride had to give in eventually. I flew into a city. The lights practically blinded me while I was landing. Through the muck and city noise I found a cyber café. Using the little cash I had left, I got some internet time. The computers were old and grimy and there was gum under the table. I shuddered a little.

It took me less than a minute to find Fang's blog. He hadn't updated in days. The last update did give me an approximate location though. I breathed a sigh of frustration. There was no way they were still there, but I supposed it was worth a shot. I hightailed it out of the café, feeling dirty. I slipped into dark alley to fly away, not my smartest move. A couple of guys dressed in black clothes appeared out of nowhere.

"Hey, gorgeous."

"Wanna have some fun, baby?"

"Really? How cliché. Oh, wait, I guess you don't know what that means." I could have flown away, but I didn't. Instead, I slammed the fist of my unbandaged arm into the bigger one's stomach. At the same time, the other one reached out to grab me. I whirled around and my foot connected with his groin. He cussed fluently. I didn't stick around for the encore. My wings flew out, and I was gone.

Using my built in compass, I directed myself towards the area where Fang's blog had last been posted from. I had to stop though. The day's escapades had left me exhausted. I set down in...You guessed it, a forest. The trees were more familiar to me than houses by that point. I was comforted by the image of my Flock sleeping in trees similar to these, staring up at the same moon.

A rustling in the forest caught my attention. It was too far away for the human ear to hear, but it was different than the sounds that the animals would normally have made. I jumped out of the tree, landing lightly on my feet. My keen sense of sound lead me to a dark part of the forest. I turned slowly, my body tensed to fight. There was a tiny crackling noise to my right. I turned. Fire?

It was probably just hunters, but I moved closer anyway. The footsteps of the people in the clearing were very light and graceful. A few of the voices seemed to be coming from a bit higher than was normal. Were they in trees? A childish laugh floated through the trees. Angel? No, I was miles from where the Flock should be. But they'd had days to fly…

I flew up through the dark canopy away from the phantom memories that were tricking me. The cool night air splashed in my face. I glanced down. The camp site was not evident. This was exactly how the flock would have set up, practically invisible. My hopes lifted, but I pushed them down. This was too much of a coincidence.

I flew as low as I dared. The voices sounded so familiar, achingly so. I had almost convinced myself that it was them. I was too afraid to hope, though. Then, a dark figure flew out of the trees a short distance away. I observed the flight pattern. It was eerily controlled, more so than that of any bird I'd seen. The body was human. My heart beat faster. The muscles, the wing span. It was Fang!

I used my super speed to propel myself towards him. Wait, was this real. I could be dreaming again, or it could be a trick. It could be clones or something. I pulled myself back. I had to be absolutely sure.

I set to spying. I watched through a gap in the leaves. That was either the flock or clones. _How likely is it that clones would be here? _I told myself. _How likely is it that the Flock would be here? _Myself responded. I sighed and settled in for a long night.

The fire below blazed warmly. I watched it reflect in Angel's sparkling eyes. I heard Gazzy's laugh and Nudge's voice. There was a sad edge to her tone. I maneuvered slightly to get a look at her face. She looked older, sadder. She was tucked under Iggy's arm her head resting on his chest. Every once in a while he would look down at her with this look in his eyes like…like he couldn't believe she was there. My heart hurt. I wanted that to be Fang and me.

Nudge's sadness had me examining everyone else for signs of distress. Angel's already too wise eyes held a new depth of emotion. Gazzy was quieter and more removed than before. Iggy also had a sorrow about him. Where was Fang? Oh, the dark flyer.

I almost crashed into the clearing at that moment. No, I had to wait for Fang. No one could make me believe they were him. I knew him too well. His arrival would dictate whether I had to keep searching or whether I'd found my family.

"What are you doing awake?" a voice said too quietly. My breath stopped. I went perfectly still. Fang.

"They heard us leave and woke up," Iggy said. Fang nodded. I couldn't take my eyes off of him. He seemed different and, yet the same. Looking at him with my newly discovered love had my heart fluttering. I almost fell out of the tree, a first for me.

Fang sighed tiredly. He flew up and settled on a branch in the same tree that I occupied. Of course. He was so close. I needed to move down and be with him, but I couldn't. For one, he might fall out of the tree. He thought I was dead. For another, I didn't know what to say. "Hey, it's me. I'm not dead. Surprise!" Just didn't seem to cut it.

I leaned back against the trunk and fell asleep to the gentle hum of my Flock's voices and the steady beat of Fang's heart.

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Only a little bit left…Please review!


	11. Chapter 11

I don't want it to end! I'm delaying the inevitable. There's very little left to this story, but here's the next chapter.

I don't own MR.

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FPOV

I kept my eyes closed. If I stayed in my dream, I could hear the steady rhythm of Max's breathing. It was a sound I knew well from taking watch while she slept. Oh Max. How was I supposed to keep going? Every day it got harder to push back the pain.

I forced my eyes open. Max would want me to be strong. The light green and gold canopy of leaves greeted me. I had slept late. I heard something. I must have lost it because it sounded like Max's breathing. That had just been a dream.

I shifted on the branch. Was there someone in the tree? I almost fell to the ground, but caught myself before I landed. There was a movement, and then no more sound. It had probably just been an animal. I wanted to imagine it had been Max, but it was too cruel to torture my soul that way.

MPOV

Fang almost saw me. His noisy fall woke me up in time to fly away. I hadn't quite worked out how to reintroduce myself to them without scaring them to death. Instead, I eavesdropped.

"Okay, guys. Where are we headed?" I winced at the forced cheer in Fang's tone. He must be really upset.

"Let's go to the beach," Angel said. She didn't sound upset. Shit. She could read my mind. I winced, should've thought of that.

"Um, okay…" Fang muttered. Angel made some bizarre excuse and walked through the trees. I was obviously supposed to follow. I heaved a sigh and went, reluctant to let Fang out of my sight for even an instant. I followed her blonde head for a while. Then, she whipped around.

"Max!" she whisper-shrieked. I opened my arms and she leaped into them. I hugged her close, smoothing her hair.

"Angel," I whispered.

"This is crazy. I read it all in your head." I gave her a stern look not wanting to imagine exactly what she had heard me thinking. She just smiled. "So I was thinking…we can go to that one beach and then I'll make sure that you can talk to Fang alone."

"Angel that's pretty far away…"

"Hmmm….You don't want to wait?"

"Not really."

"Well, how about you just show up while we're flying. I'll get the others away from you guys."

"How 'bout I just walk back into camp with you."

"That works too."

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Okay I know so like freakishly short. Review ASAP and I promise to update again today. It will be a long chapter hopefully, but I'm sorry that this is so short.


	12. Chapter 12

Okay so even though I only got a couple of reviews, I did promise so….

I don't own MR.

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FPOV

Where was Angel? She was taking forever. I was ready to get out of here, to go somewhere where I wouldn't have to remember hearing the truth from Iggy. I knew that I would never be able to stop thinking about Max. I was afraid to stop thinking about her because it would kill me to forget anything about her: her smile, her voice, her…laugh? Did I just hear Max's laugh. Now I was convinced I was losing it.

MPOV

Angel was filling me in on everything I'd missed since Fang left. I missed them all so much. I hadn't felt this free in a long time. We reached the edge of camp. I was so excited to see them again. I could only hope that nothing had changed. Angel took my hand.

"Ready?"

"Absolutely." We walked through the trees into camp.

A hush descended over my Flock and permeated the air in around us. I saw Gasman gasp and topple out of his tree. Nudge stopped midsentence, speechless for once. Iggy looked confused, then cocked his head listening. His eyes got huge and his mouth fell open. My eyes were riveted on Fang who was not facing me. He turned to see what was going on, and froze completely. I saw pain, shock, hope, fear, a thousand emotions cross his face.

"It's really her," Angel said. Her voice cut through the shocked silence and seemed to unfreeze everyone. They flew at me from all angles.

"Max!" Nudge screamed and wrapped me in a hug.

"Max!" Gasman laughed happily and joined in the hug fest.

Iggy looked more suspicious, but after a brief silent conversation with Angel he turned to me, smiling, but still confused.

"How-"

"Not now," I whispered and pulled him close as well. I had a huge, silly grin on my face. Then, I noticed that Fang was still standing motionless.

"Max," he whispered. Then he took off.

"What?" I felt my heart sink. Fang had left again. The physical pain was back, crushing me.

"He's going to the beach. I think he's confused, Max," Angel piped up. I nodded.

"So…let's go," I whispered. The happy mood was only slightly dampened by Fang's reaction.

"So what happened?" Iggy asked. The Flock all pulled in close to hear as we flew.

"Well…" I embarked on my tale. They were the perfect audience: laughing, gasping, shuddering at just the right places, so in tune were we as a unit. "Your turn," I told Iggy, trying to keep my mind off of Fang, as if that was possible.

"After you-After, Nudge and I flew for a long time. We did the same as you, stopped and read his blog." Iggy carefully avoided using Fang's name, a habit from before I presumed. "Then we flew here. We were kind of in shock…"

"I'm glad you got away easy," I said.

"It didn't feel easy," he murmured back.

"Don't ever leave us again, Max. We were so sad. I've never been so sad before. And Fang never wanted to stop for food…" Nudge continued on. I was so glad to be home.

FPOV

I turned around. What was with the silence? I froze. My subconscious helping me withdraw to protect my emotions. Max was standing in front of me. Max was standing in front of me. I couldn't believe it. Was I asleep?

"It's really her," Angel said. This wasn't a clone. I wasn't asleep. It wasn't possible. Life didn't just give you your wildest dream because you asked for it. Everyone was surrounding her. She had that amazing smile on her face. Max. My heart was pounding so fast. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't understand. How? How? How? It was an impossibility. Even the great Maximum Ride didn't come back from the dead.

I flew away, knowing they would follow. I immediately regretted taking my eyes off of her, afraid that she would be gone when I looked again. I flew towards the beach that Angel had suggested. I wondered for a moment if Max would use her super speed to catch up to me. I found myself wishing she would.

I was consumed with Max. Hope blossomed in my chest. Could it really, truly be her? My Maximum. If I believed that, I would have to start worrying again. I would have to wonder if she'd forgive me, if I'd lose her again. I would have to wonder and think and hurt until I reached that beach. I shouldn't have flown off.

The worry was a fair price to pay to have Max back. I would have given anything, anything, to be able to see her once more, to tell her how I feel, to touch her and hold her, and try to keep her from leaving again. And now she was here. She had come home to me.

MPOV

I had to speed up. I just couldn't take the wait anymore. I tapped Iggy's hand and he nodded. The speed came easily to me, perhaps because of the joy that was flowing through my veins.

"Fang," I said. He started a bit. I flew so that I was next to him. "Hey," I said. _That was so lame,_ I thought. Couldn't I do better? Why was I nervous? This was Fang.

"Hey," he said.

"Fang, I-"

"Max, How-"

"You first."

"Max, how-what…" I recounted the story for him.

"Funny…." he muttered. I raised an eyebrow. "I had a dream where you told me that."

"Me too," I said. He raised an eyebrow. "Seriously."

"I missed you," he whispered. I felt like he was trying to tell me so much in that statement.

"I missed you too," I said. I was still hurting from our separation. We didn't need to talk. Instead, we delighted in each other's company, listened to each other's heart beats. _I need him,_ I realized. At one point, Fang flew above me in a protective manner. It made me shiver inwardly with pleasure. It felt intimate to fly like that. I could look up and see his perfect face above me. _Love you, Fang,_ I thought.

I wanted to tell him, even opened my mouth to say it, but what if…what if he left again? What if he didn't feel the same? My heart sank again. I wouldn't be able to make it through another parting.

FPOV

Max was flying below me. She was so beautiful. I felt like I could protect her, be there to help her. This was right. Max and I were meant to be a team. Right? I still couldn't believe that she was there. She had told me the story, but I found myself unable to believe it fully. Max was really here. I would never stop being grateful for this gift of fate.

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Okay, so the next one is the real reunion. That was just a taste. Review!!!


	13. Chapter 13

This is the new chapter. Enjoy.

I don't own the ever illustrious Fang or the incredible Maximum Ride.

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MPOV

We set down on the beach. The little ones were exhausted from the long flight, but didn't want to sleep.

"I promise to still be here when you wake up," I said.

"Love you, Max," Gazzy said. I kissed his forehead.

"I love you too."

"Love you, Max," Nudge said. This was like some type of 50's TV show. It was amazing and fragile, and I would never let it go again.

"Love you, Nudge." This repeated from Angel, and also from Iggy although in a more mature, less-childish way.

When they were all asleep except Iggy who was taking the first watch, I turned and saw a dark figure on the beach. Fang. I walked over to him, feeling my heart fly up into my throat as though it had wings of its own.

I had honestly never been so happy in my whole life. I had my Flock back. I had them whole ad safe with me.

"Max," he said, inclining his head somewhat formally. He turned back to watch the waves.

"What's up?" I tried for casual even though my heart was beating overtime. I stood beside him. The waves were small and gentle. The moon sat enormous on the horizon. There was a large cliff at the end of the stretch of beach and another rocky structure in which's shadow the Flock was resting.

"I-Max…" he sighed.

"You said that already," I joked, attempting a half smile. His eyes were shadowed when he turned to me. I was used to his mood swings, just hoping that I could pull him out of this one. "What's wrong?"

"Max, I can't keep this up." Was he going to tell me he was leaving again? My heart literally stopped and then went into hyper speed. I was having trouble breathing.

"Max!" he gasped. It seemed like he couldn't stop saying my name. He put his hands on my shoulders, turning me to face him. "Max, calm down." I took a deep breath. I might have been hyperventilating.

"You are _not_ allowed to leave me again," I gasped out.

"Of course not," he half-gasped half-laughed. He looked at me as if I were absurd. Then he pulled me close. "Max, I can't be your brother." My heart hurt. What was going on? "I can't be your friend. I need more than that, Max." As quickly as it had plummeted, my heart leapt up.

"What?" He flinched.

"Don't be mad-" I cut him off with a kiss. I don't know what made me do it, but I moved forward, stood on my toes and kissed him. His hands traveled up my back, rubbing small circles under my wings. He tilted his head into the kiss.

"Are you sure, Max?" He had pulled back and was looking into my eyes, tenderly, but also worriedly.

"Yes." He kissed me again and again until my head was spinning, and I could barely control my breathing. He spread his wings so that I could run my fingers over the silky feathers, perfection.

"Fang." I smiled into his eyes.

"Max." There were no words for what I was experiencing. Then, the last dark thing came back to me. I pulled away.

"You left me." I was surprised that my voice shook.

"I'm so sorry. I thought it was for the best." He sounded sincere. His eyes pleaded with me for understanding. He was so perfect in the moonlight. His wings were still spread out. Magnificent.

"You promised, Fang."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay." I had had enough of the pain. It was time to move forward.

"I won't ever leave again, Max."

"How do I know you're telling the truth?"

"Because I love you." His eyes shone into mine. I was stunned at the love that I saw there. My breath caught in my throat.

"I love you too." The words flew from my mouth of their own accord. I realized at once how true they really were. "I love you." He grinned.

We were moving closer. I felt his arms come around me. He touched the tender spot on my wing. It sent a rush of heat through me. He lowered his head, and we were kissing. I had never felt anything like it; this was ten times more than before. There was no uncertainty now, no worry or pain. It was like fire moving in my veins, electricity coursing under my skin. My lips tingled and my breath caught.

We fit together perfectly, like I was made to be in his arms. I ran my fingers through his hair. It was like a movie scene. This was the part where the screen would fade to black and credits would roll, but, for me, the scene didn't fade. It was just Fang and me.

We came up for air. He was speechless, not a change, but so was I, something very odd. He smirked arrogantly. I rolled my eyes.

"I missed you," I said as I moved closer to him, laying my head on his chest. He held me close, resting his head on my hair. We watched the stars shine together. I felt whole, complete. Fang was the only one who fit me. I felt like my heart would explode with this intense love I felt. How had I never recognized it before?

FPOV

I couldn't believe where I was standing. Not the beach, but with Max. Max was here in my arms. I inhaled the scent of her hair, reveled in the feel of her skin. She was so amazing. I didn't deserve her. She had accepted my promise so easily, like I had never broken my word before. She constantly surprised me.

I had thought I had lost her. I had been certain that she was dead. The thought still turned my insides to ice. Even before that, I had thought, had been certain, that she would never forgive me, love me. How wrong I had been. Hearing those three words from her lips had completed my world. Max. She was my everything. I would never let her go.

The End

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And that, and that, and that's all folks. No joke this time. The end, finished. Hope you loved it as much as I did. I'm willing to write some extras if you all want, but I think this is it.


	14. Chapter 14

This is just an author's note. Ah! Don't hate me! This is important. There might be an Epilogue to this story sometime soon, but that's not what this is about. I'm writing a new Maximum Ride FanFiction. Yippee! Here's a little snippet:

_There are those who would tell me to get over it. Isn't it better to stop lying to yourself? No. Let me tell you, it's not. Nothing could be worse than where I am right now; on the dirty floor of a crappy motel room, broken, bruised, and bleeding, alone. The lie is better, even when you're a bird-kid, even when you're the unbelievable, unbreakable Maximum Ride. As hard as it is to admit, I'm only human, deep inside where it counts. I'm only human, and sometimes, humans have to lie to themselves. I have to lie to myself._

The problem is: there are two ways for this to go. So, I need you to review and tell me if you want this story to a) have the chapter I just wrote, which includes the above preview, as a prologue and then skip backward to have the happy Flock after saving the world and then lead up to this point. It would involve FAX, action, angst, suspense…

or b) have this preview and its accompanying chapter as the first chapter and then go from there. It would be a lot of Max and Fang angst from both POVs. There would be angst, FAXness, suspense, action, etc. There will be more FAX than in You Left Me either way.

The first one will have more fluffy FAX then a huge break apart where the preview is and then maybe more later. The second choice will have more angsty FAX, but it will probably be more fulfilling in the long run.

I need you to tell me what you think!

**Update: The story ended up being a combination of ideas. it's called The Impossible and it now has a sequel called the Improbable.**


	15. Chapter 15

This is the final update to this story. I know it's been more than long enough for you to forget this altogether. That's because I decided not to do an epilogue. I think it's fine how it is. I did, however, post many new MR fictions. The one that I talked about in the last chapter has been completed, and a sequel has been started.

I really just wanted to let everyone know that **this story has been edited**. I tried **to get rid of any plot errors or typos**. So cheers for the new and improved You Left Me.


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